Birth Mother Photography Series: Lexi

Lexi and I met at a park in South Florida and spent many tearful, yet healing, hours together.

Hillary Jones
May 06, 2015

Hi. I’m Hillary. I’m a photographer and a birth mother. I intend to travel the country and meet with other women who have placed their children for adoption. Some of the stories will be beautiful and inspiring, while other testimonies will be completely heartbreaking. Click here to see more stories.

Lexi reached out to me after finding out about my project through Instagram. She was very excited about having this opportunity to have her voice heard. We met at a very beautiful park in South Florida and spent many tearful, yet wonderfully healing, hours sharing our stories with each other.

When Lexi first found out she was pregnant, she and her boyfriend at the time initially planned to parent the child, but she soon realized that there was no way that they would be able to provide a safe and stable home for a baby. “My sister asked me if I’d considered adoption, ” Lexi said. “I knew right then that adoption was the best choice for my son. My family situation is less than ideal, so I moved in with my sister while I was pregnant. Because I was choosing to make an adoption plan for my son, I had to keep my pregnancy hidden from my mother–my mom didn’t find out until I was 6 months along–and she only found out later because she snuck into my room and started reading my journals.”

A heartbreaking part of Lexi’s story is the fact that her son’s adoptive family changed their minds about their initial agreement to maintain an open adoption.

“It was supposed to be an open adoption,” Lexi told me.

“We originally planned to have visits at least once a year, but after some thinking and discussion, it was decided that we would hold off on visits until my son shows an interest in meeting me. It hurts, but as long as he’s healthy and happy, I’ll be okay. I don’t want to be bitter about it, because I can’t express the amount of gratitude I have for his adoptive parents. They have provided, and will continue to provide, a life for him that I wouldn’t have been able to give him.”

Hillary Jones

Hillary Jones is a Florida-based photographer and mixed media artist. Jones received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of North Florida and is currently pursuing her Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of South Florida. To experience more of her work, visit her website.

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